22.2.06

The first evaluation rounds will start soon. These rounds will be knockouts.Later on the qualifying rounds will be played in groups with around 8 designs. (early October)Finals should start in the late October of 2006.

How many designs?

We decided to accept 4 different fleet designs, but on each of the four fleet designs the tech fields must be different.

Can I redesign?

Yes. Between the evaluation, qualifying rounds and the final you will be able to redesign your ships but you have to use the same techfields. You can also replace one of your designs before the evaluation round starts. (That means you can chose new techfields in this case.)

Is there any deadline?

In the next weeks we will start with our first evaluation rounds. I will present information about the most successful designs afterward. Obviously, I won't accept any copies of these designs after I have published them. Counter designs are ok. The beginning of the qualifying rounds (1st October) will be the deadline.

Is there any resource, where I can look at submitted designs and their scores?

Currently, there is not a site providing information on designs. I want to avoid later participants having too much knowledge about their competition. This would biased and an advantage to late arrivals or re-designs. Therefore, I am the only one who knows all of the designs and I will not participate. When the first evaluation round starts I will publish the scores on this blog.

How will the issue of "waiting" be resolved?

Each duel contains 2 battles. Each side has to engage one of these battles(thus becoming the attacker). The defender (positioned on the right side of the battlefield) has the "last wait", i.e. the old SL rule:

1. WAITING. [...] Either player may use the WAIT command on his ships during combat, but if a waiting contest develops, with each player trying to outwait the other, it is ALWAYS required that the Attacker move, fire and hit done with his ships BEFORE the defender is required to. [...]

What about draws?

Evaluation rounds (knockout): When there is a 1-1 draw in these 2 battles, the "surviving" command points decide the winner. When there is still a draw, the participant that submitted a design earlier wins.Qualifying rounds (groups): Draws are just draws.

Can we add leaders to our ships?

No.

I can't pick anything but Creative? So the extra race points cannot be used?

No further race points. Only several war racepicks would be interesting and the problem is that they would dominate the design decisions. We are more interested in designs. Therefore, no further race picks will be allowed (Creative only).

E-mail your ship designs to MOO2niac@googlemail.com. Anyone who needs assistance with their Master of Orion II installation or those without access to Master of Orion II, install Kali and visit us on chat server 138. (See the link "Kali-Guide" to the right for details on that install)

Players will be allowed to use the "Alt + Menlo" cheat for the purpose of aquiring no more than 10,000 research points of technology for combat purposes. This code should be entered on the galaxy map screen. These 10,000 points will be applied from the "average" technology level. Currently, there are no technology bans. Combatants will be required to record the Tech levels researched for the judge to review. Additionally, the "Alt + Crunch" cheat shall be used to complete production of ships in a single turn. This code should be entered on the colony screen.

Ten command points will be available for each fleet. Players will be allowed to use these command points as they see fit.

Fleets will be battle tested for a sort of 'pre-season' experimentation period prior to the finals. During this time, fleets have the opportunity to acquire experience points. Players whose designs prove formidable early on , may even reach elite status. Don't discount that Space Academies can still be researched and built within the rule parameters. This time period also offers players a chance to adapt or change designs before making a final decision on his fleet(s). Of all the designs submitted, the top 25% shall receive experience points based on their battle performance(more details to follow). We will also be providing some tactical analysis of designs.

The creative race-pick is allowed, all others are banned. On the race selection screen choose custom, then press Clear and choose creative then hit Accept.

Relevant BattleTech (click it to enlarge):Battle Contest

Example (text in bold is required):Subject: fleet contestNickname: sironFleet No.1 you can submit more than 1 fleet)Fleetname: (optional)

Write down a column of your tech choices:Tech Choices70801150250150550400250sum: 9830